Unusual Luminescence of Quartz from La Sassa, Tuscany: Insights on the Crystal and Defect Nanostructure of Quartz Further Developments

Quartz luminescence finds applications on many fields, but much work still needs to be done to precisely characterize it. In this work, we made further developments on the study of luminescence of quartz from La Sassa, Tuscany: a sample with unique properties in this regard. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements allowed study of the excitation profile of the previously reported luminescence, showing an excitation maximum at around 4.3 eV, among other minor ones. This kind of luminescence has also been studied as a function of X-ray irradiation, showing that ionizing radiation desensitizes the photoluminescence emissions. New radioluminescence (RL) measurements have been done to study the effect of thermal annealing at 1000 degrees C, showing a more complex emission picture in the red region (1.8-2.0 eV), with multiple emissions. The data presented here allow more precise assumptions regarding the assignment of the centers responsible for each emission. The assignment has been confirmed by chemical profiles measured by laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry. The previously tentative assignment of non-bridging oxygen hole centers (NBOHCs) has been disproved for the PL and LIF emissions and confirmed for the RL ones.

Automated summary

The luminescence of quartz has various applications, but further research is needed to fully understand its characteristics. This study focuses on the luminescence of quartz from La Sassa, Tuscany, and explores its unique properties. Photoluminescence and radioluminescence measurements were used to investigate the excitation profile and the effect of thermal annealing. The results were confirmed by chemical profiles obtained through laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.